Top 5 Current Affairs: 18 October 2018

Rupali Pruthi

Union Minister of State for External Affairs, MJ Akbar resigned from his post on October 17, 2018 over sexual harassment charges levelled against him by several women journalists in the wake of #MeToo movement.

Akbar's resignation came two days after he filed a criminal defamation complaint in a Delhi’s Patiala House Court against journalist Priya Ramani, who was the first to put #MeToo allegations against Akbar. Following Ramani's complaint, as many as 20 women came out in support of Priya Ramani, accusing Akbar of sexual harassment

The World Economic Forum (WEF) on October 16, 2018 released the Global Competitiveness Report 2018. The report publishes the Global Competitiveness Index, ranking 140 countries on the basis of 98 indicators organised into 12 pillars.

On the list of 140 economies, the United States topped the list with a score of 85.6. India was ranked as the 58th most competitive economy with a score of 62.0 on the Global Competitiveness Index 2018. India jumped five spots from 2017, the largest gain among G20 economies.

Irish Author Anna Burns on October 16, 2018 won the Britain's renowned Man Booker Prize 2018 for her third novel 'Milkman'. Burns received the award from Prince Charles' wife Camilla, the Duchess of Cornwall, as well as 50000 pounds (USD 65900) as the prize money.

Milkman is an exploration of Northern Ireland's three decades of violence told through the voice of a young woman. The novel chronicles the struggles of a middle sister in a family as she confronts rumour, social pressures and politics amid violent sectarian divisions in her community.

The Department of Telecommunications (DOT) and Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI) on October 18, 2018 clarified in a joint statement that a few news reports stating that 50 crore mobile numbers are at the risk of disconnection are completely untrue and imaginary.

These news reports try to create unnecessary panic among mobile users by claiming that there are prospects of disconnection, “if SIM cards procured on the basis of Aadhaar verification are not backed up by a fresh identification”.

In a first-of-its-kind mission, a UK-built spacecraft will set off for Mercury to determine whether the plant, which is the closest to the Sun, contains water.

The European Space Agency's (ESA) BepiColombo mission will send two orbiters to explore the planet where the surface temperatures reach about 450 degrees Celsius. Through the mission, the space agency hopes to get answers to the questions raised by the previous missions such as whether the planet holds water.

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